Chapter 6:

The carriage shook violently from side to side as it rolled into the distance. The gravel road was rough and uneven; every time the wagon would ride over a pebble or chance upon a small hollow, Alastair would be tossed into the wall.

It had already been a day since the spider latched onto the transport and by now the sun had begun to retreat somewhere behind the distant horizon. The dying sunlight fervently splashed onto the landscape, painting the surroundings into bright hues of orange and red. The forest has long receded and was replaced by lush fields and pastures which too began to slowly fade in the enshrouding darkness.

Alastair sighed deeply. The trip was painfully long and tedious, but he had to endure; to him, it was the only real chance to move forward, beyond the realms of insects and towards his ultimate goal; towards true power and the unknown. A few months had already gone by since the time he had by luck stumbled upon the fresh corpse of a bird. Since that pivotal day, the spider began an endless streak of evolutions fuelled by the animal’s vital meat and his desire for more. Then, he was blindly eager to grow stronger and finally have a chance to stand up to himself, have a place in this world. But time went by, with every evolution his power grew, yet the weakness remained; he was still but a mere spider, a small weak insect in this big wide world.

With this realisation, Alastair began to understand that no matter how hard he tried, no matter what he did, there was not even a slight chance that he would ever break out of these shackles unless he evolved into something greater, something far superior to a measly spider; even the strongest of insects was bound to remain at the bottom of the food chain. In his desperation, the spider remembered that he could turn into a bird, but, alas, after further consideration he concluded that it was not a good choice either. Such a weak animal could only prey on insects and, according to the system, it didn’t possess a high aptitude for evolution in the said direction. In the long run, it would only make his journey harder.

It was then, that Alastair abandoned everything and became a wandering spider; he no longer had a home, no longer a constant supply of food - his life became one large treacherous journey. With an impregnable will, however, he shouldered all these hardships, and, in the fullness of time, all his futile efforts and endless perseverance have been rewarded; for the first time, he had found humans.

At first, his attention was attracted by the fire; amidst the darkness of the chilling night, it resembled a bright red star which radiated heat and blinding light in all visible directions - it was simultaneously alluring and repulsive as if the sweetest poison which could submerge you into a world of ecstasy before driving your life to its utter end. Mesmerised by the sight and enticed by the irresistible warmth, the spider subconsciously began to approach the strange phenomenon, he recognised it, understood that it was nothing special, nothing unseen, yet he was still somehow deeply drawn towards it on an instinctual level.

Because of this, he almost missed the humans that were idly sitting around the flames and only at the last moment did he manage to escape their sight. An old bearded man and a naive looking young boy sat around the campfire. As soon as he recognised these creatures, he felt as if a bucket of cold water was splashed onto his head, immediately wiping his trance-like state and replacing it with caution and a slight hint of expectancy. Step by step, he stealthily approached the fire.

As he came closer, Alastair began to hear voices. The old man seemed to be speaking, apparently explaining something to the youngster, but no matter how hard he tried, Alastair couldn’t understand a word he had said. There was a clear language barrier. This fact made Alastair a little disappointed, however, the spider didn’t dwell on it for too long, he still had time to make up for his shortcomings. A creepy smile surfaced on his face. This was the key that was looking for - the answer to his unending predicament. He couldn’t deal with the humans just yet, but if he followed them, he was sure that his growth will only be a matter of time.

Shaking his head, Alastair looked around. The last rays of sunlight have finally dissipated and darkness took reign. Two lustres oil lamps located on either side of the carriage meekly irradiated the surroundings and a chilly breeze played with the grass below. Somewhere in the distance, a few miles towards the west, if one tensed their eyes, they would be able to notice a weak, barely discernible, glow. The voyage was almost over.

“Statistics!” Alastair commanded as his sight returned to the wooden wall of the wagon. He wanted to check his progress.

[Beep!] A loud, ear-piercing sound rang through his head as a monotonous robotic voice began to echo in his mind. Even rows of transparent text appeared before his eyes.

[Statistics:

The following statistics are based on the average human adult, this standard can be altered in system settings.

Species: Unidentified arachnid

Status: adulthood stage, healthy

Strength: 0.11

Agility: 0.87

Intellect: 0.03 (+1.6)

Vitality: 34/52 (-24 per day)

Mana: 0

Mass: 50 grams

Skills: Neurotoxic Poison, Corrosive Venom, Cobweb, Regeneration, Hibernation, Dash, Chemosense, Wallcrawling, Flight (Cuticle wings, consumes additional vitality due to biological parameters of host’s body)]

‘Hmmm,’ The spider breathed out in irritation. Compared to his past self, of course, he was now on a completely new qualitative level; after undergoing numerous vital evolutions, his body has changed to such an extent, that it was now impossible to recognise him when compared to the past. Instead of resembling a typical house spider, he now looked more like a monstrosity that came directly out of a horror movie.

At the base of each of his eight hairy legs, one could clearly see razor-sharp white bones that protruded upwards, towards the sky. They resembled daggers that could easily penetrate human skin and would cause anyone to think twice before attempting to squash the spider to death with their feet. His formerly small, barely visible eyes were now much larger; they no longer resembled pitch-black marbles and looked more human, more natural. Two of his eyes, however, were of striking contrast when compared to the others: they were much larger and seemed to pop out of his head, a simple pattern of intersecting lines could be seen everywhere on their surface and they looked almost identical to the eyes of a fly. Those were his composite eyes that, despite their shortsightedness, allowed him to sense anything in close vicinity. Further back, behind the eyes, a pair of transparent wings rested on the spider’s back. Though they may have looked unimpressive at first sight, the mere thought of this creature being able to fly would strike fear into any common folk. He was no longer something that other insects and even some mammals could look down upon.

Despite the undoubtable progress, however, the spider was still disappointed; he has not taken even a slight step forward in the past month which caused him to grow restless.

Bam!

Suddenly, Alastair’s train of thought was unceremoniously interrupted as the cart came to an abrupt stop. Due to the inertia, he was forcefully flung head straight into the wooden wall. A wave of pain and dizziness rushed through his whole body. Discombobulated, the spider took a few awkward steps back before tripping over the edge and falling down into the surrounding sea of grass.

When he regained composure, Alastair noticed that he has arrived at a village, to be more precise, at its forefront. Before him, stood a tall wooden fence. Though through his eyes, it may have looked imposing and colossal, from a human’s perspective, this shabby structure didn’t seem particularly impressive or useful, the only purpose that it could possibly serve was to mark the village’s perimeter.

Somewhere in the distance, the spider could notice lights. These lights weakly illuminated the deserted gravel road that passed directly through the centre of the settlement as they poured out of the windows of adjacent houses. All the said premises were located strictly on either side of the road with only a couple of exceptions that seemed to be situated a bit further back, closer to the surrounding pastures. The wooden buildings were small, and if not for their fairly well-structured looks, one could even take them for simple huts. Judging by this place, it could be said that this world had yet to enter the era of technology.

A pleasant wave of anticipation rushed through Alastair as he shifted his gaze back to the wagon. By now, the carriage was surrounded by a small group of people, each of them holding a wooden flare in their hands as they waited for the passengers to get off. When the old man jumped down from the cart, he was greeted by warm laughter and a firm pat on the back. A conversation ensued. While the old man was speaking, one of the people, supposedly guards, came closer to the cart and helped the boy down. He gently patted the boy’s dirty hair and gave him a tight welcoming hug after which, he took the horse by the bridle and directed it somewhere into the village, the boy excitedly followed close behind.

“Dad!” He blurted out with childish impatience, “Is it a boy?! What does he look like?!”

“Haha!” The man laughed cordially as he noticed the boy’s enthusiasm, “And what if it isn’t?” He teased.

“Hmph!” The boy immediately turned his head away from his father and retorted in all seriousness, “That’s impossible!”

“What makes you say that?” Inquired the man.

“I just know!” Said the boy with determination as he gave himself an affirmative nod.

“Well, you’re not wrong, Leon.” Noticing his son’s growing impatience, the man finally gave in. “How did your trip go?” He quickly changed topics.

“It wasn’t too bad…” Responded Leon after a second, a hint of disappointment evident in his voice, “but it wasn’t good either!”

“Oh?” The man curiously looked at his child, “I thought you always wanted to visit the nearby market, was it not to your liking?”

“No,” the boy quickly shook his head in denial, “it’s just that the journey very long and boring!”

“Haha,” the man released another chuckle, “I’ve warned you, maybe next time you will listen more carefully to your elders.”

“Hmph!”

“Alright, we’re almost home, you can soon get some rest.” noticing his displeasure consoled the man, “Just be really quiet, your little brother is still asleep and unless you want to have a word with your mom, make sure you don’t make a sound.”

“Okey.” Leon nodded seriously as his eyes focused on a certain window, “Not a sound…” he whispered.

As the wooden door closed silently behind the duo, Alastair stopped in his treks. His eyes carefully took in the surroundings. Before him stood a simple house. It was completely made out of wood and thick layers of straw that were carefully intertwined together to create maximal insulation. The windows were hollow and only a short bundle of intricately weaved stalks separated the interior from the rest of the world. A dim light could be seen pouring out of the hole, the insides radiated inviting heat.

The spider hesitated. He didn’t know what awaited him behind the thick walls; was it the future, the answer that he’s been looking for, or was it perhaps his demise. Shaking his head, he dispelled the negative thoughts that enveloped his mind, whatever it was, he was about to find out. With determination, Alastair pridefully spread his huge transparent wings; like a prism, they bent the incoming waves of light, shining in all colours of the rainbow. Amidst the surrounding darkness, the flying spider resembled a shooting star.

‘Alright,’ he said to himself, ‘Here we go!’ Like a meteor, Alastair landed behind the curtain.